 | | | | |
| | | | | |
|
Media Centre Press ReleasesESA TelevisionLaunch Media CornerExhibitionsServices CalendarPublicationsFrequently asked questionsESA-sponsored ConferencesHelpSite CreditsPortal terms of useCommentsSubscribe
| | | | | | | Building the Soyuz launch facility at Europe’s Spaceport
18 June 2009
| | | | Horizontal rollout
| The horizontal transfer of Soyuz launchers at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana will follow the same basic procedures used for Soyuz operations at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Here, the Soyuz FG launcher and Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft that lifted off from the cosmodrome on May 27 with a three-member crew for the International Space Station rolls out to the Site 1 pad at Baikonur.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2009 | |  |  | |
| | | | Soyuz launch system approaches completion
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Wide-angle view of the almost-complete Soyuz launch system. The four primary support arms are shown in their closed position, when they form a support ring around the ‘waist’ of Soyuz to suspend the vehicle over its launch pad. Directly behind the two rear support arms is the set of umbilical masts that will service the Soyuz Block A core stage, its Block I third stage, the Fregat upper stage and the payload. Visible below in the launch table’s 15-metre diameter circular opening are four triangular guides that will be connected to the four strap-on boosters – providing stability for the suspended vehicle until liftoff. The two other arms extending into the opening carry electrical umbilicals for the Soyuz boosters and the Block A core stage.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - J. M. Guillon | | | | |
| | | | Soyuz launch table opening
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The erected Soyuz will be positioned inside this 15-meter diameter circular opening on the launch table. Four triangular guides can be seen positioned around the inner wall of the opening. These will be connected to the four strap-on boosters – providing stability for the suspended vehicle until liftoff. Two other arms carry electrical umbilicals to the launcher.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - G. Barbaste | | | | |
| | | | Soyuz ‘service cabin’
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
A platform known as the Soyuz ‘service cabin’ is located beneath the upper level of the launch table. Here, it is shown in the retracted position, which moves the cabin free of the circular opening for the final countdown, engine ignition and liftoff. The service cabin contains ground support equipment and provides access to the launcher’s lower portion.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - G. Barbaste | | | | |
| | | | Launch pad viewed from the flame pit
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The four-level reinforced concrete structure that serves as the Soyuz launch pad – viewed from the far side of the flame pit. The configuration shown here is the same as used on the other Soyuz launch facilities at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome. A difference with the installation at CSG will be the addition of a mobile gantry, which will be employed for payload integration with the Soyuz erected in its vertical position.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - P. Baudon | | | | |
| | | | Lightning protection towers
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Soyuz launch pad is surrounded by four lightning protection towers, which are a feature of all the pads at CSG. The picture, taken from inside the flame pit, also shows the Soyuz launch system in the ‘ready’ position – with the four support arms closed and the two umbilical masts raised to service the medium-lift vehicle. A recently added element is the facility’s system of floodlights, which are installed on four masts positioned around the launch pad.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - J. M. Guillon | | | | |
| | | | Umbilical masts on the launch pad
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The two umbilical masts on the Soyuz launch pad, shown in the raised position. The shorter, blue-coloured mast is for the Soyuz vehicle’s Block A core stage. It is straddled by the larger mast, which provides fluids and electrical connections for the launcher’s Block I third stage, the Fregat upper stage and the payload.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - L. Mira | | | | |
| | | | Transporter/erector system
| Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The rail-mounted transporter/erector system inside the launcher assembly and testing building (монтажно-испытательный корпус; montazhno-ispytatelniy korpus – MIK). The Soyuz launch vehicle is integrated and transferred to the launch pad in the horizontal position. At the pad, the erector raises the Soyuz into the upright position.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - P. Baudon | | | | |
| | | | | Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The transporter/erector system for Soyuz inside the launcher assembly and testing building (монтажно-испытательный корпус; montazhno-ispytatelniy korpus – MIK). Once the Soyuz launch vehicle’s integration is completed in a horizontal position inside the MIK, the launcher is lifted onto the transporter/erector by two overhead cranes (one of which is partially visible in the upper background). The transporter/erector is then transferred on a railway line to the launch pad, where the launch vehicle is raised into the vertical position, ready for launch.
Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - J. M. Guillon | | | | |
| |
| | Related links Building the Soyuz launch facility at Europe’s Spaceport – part twoExternal links Russian Federal Space Agency
|
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: